Here are my reviews of this year's SIFF films that I've seen at other festivals.  All films rated with **** being a masterpiece.


BEN X (d. Nic Balthazar; Belgium)
Every once in a while this competition offers up some out-of-the-ordinary surprise, and this year's prize goes to this film.  It's the story of an autistic boy, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome...sort of a younger version of Dustin Hoffman's "Rainman".  In this case, the boy, incredibly well portrayed by first time actor Greg Timmermans, is only able to live an expressive life through an online multi-player internet videogame, as the heroic character Ben X.  In real life he is tormented by bullies at school and is locked inside his head.  The videogame graphics are nicely done.  But it is the achingly beautiful portrayal of this split life which is done filmically about as well as it is possible to imagine.  I can only hope the committee agrees with me and puts this little gem in the finals.  *** 1/2

BLIND MOUNTAIN (d. Li Yang)
A girl college graduate takes a job in a remote mountain village and instead finds herself virtually held prisoner and married to a loutish farmer against her will.  That's the setup of this slightly overlong, but well constructed and harrowing film.   This is  the Chinese version of a Ken Loach film:  a kitchen sink presentation of a pressing social problem.  But Huang Lu's remarkable performance as the plucky slave bride is worth the ride.  ***

BREAKFAST WITH SCOT (d. Laurie Lynd)
A child leads a grownup to a better understanding of life kinda film.  In this case, a flamboyantly gay 11 year old boy, suddenly foist upon a straighter than straight gay male couple in Toronto.  It's an interesting set-up, and the actors are all quite good:  the kid Noah Bernett is even better than that, a natural ham who lights up the screen with his gap toothed smile.  The men are played by Tom Cavanaugh, who almost pulls off the task of being both a feisty pro hockey player and a gay dad type.   And Ben Shenkman in a less showy, but steady role.  This is a likable trifle of a film, pretty slickly made and it might even become a commercial success.  ** 3/4

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS) (d. Cristian Nemescu)
Nemescu died in a car accident before he could make the final cut of this film, which is especially poignant since the film is so interesting and well observed, and could only be improved by some judicious pruning.  It's the story of a platoon of American marines guarding a train loaded with communication equipment for the NATO forces in Kosovo in 1999.  The train gets sidetracked by a corrupt, officious station manager in a small Romanian town; and the colorful townspeople seduce the soldiers in various ways.  It's a delightful film, part romantic comedy, part political parable.  In a great year for Romanian cinema, this was a highlight for me. *** 1/4

CECIL B. DEMENTED (d. John Waters)
One of Waters's silliest films.  Seen too long ago to rate.

CHRYSALIS (d. Julien Leclercq)
This is a stylish sci-fi thriller/policier (yes, they still have crime in the future) about a machine which steals memories and the consequences thereof.  It's memorable mostly for some gritty fight scenes between the policeman-hero, played by Albert Dupontel, and his criminal nemesis.  Too many of those, perhaps.  The film sort of wore out before its surprises were over.  ** 1/2

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (d. Fatih Akin; Germany)
I wasn't all that impressed by Akin's break-out film Head-On a few years ago; so my expectations were muted.  But to my surprise I was totally engrossed by this fascinating and unlikely story.  Like one of my favorite films, Lelouch's And Now My Love, it has two complex, intersecting stories which tantalize but never quite connect.  I'm not even going to try to offer a synopsis of the plot.  Let it suffice to say that I was totally absorbed and emotionally involved in the plight of these characters.  Akin does something really daring:  gives away important plot points with introductory scene titles.  But this trick actually adds to the tension and ultimate effect.  It's a great script, nicely realized (Istanbul has rarely been better served as a backdrop).  *** 3/4

FEMALE AGENTS (Les Femmes de l'ombre) (d. Jean-Paul Salomé)
Salomé has made an old fashioned WWII resistance film with a definite feminist, revisionist bent.  It's the mostly fictionalized story of a group of four French women recruited by the British to perform an important mission in France just prior to D-Day (I didn't know until reading the sub-titles of this film that the French refer to this as J-jour.)  Sophie Marceau plays the stalwart leader of the group as a steely-eyed sniper.  But the real star of the film is Moritz Bleibtreu in his first (and apparently only, according to the director's Q&A) depiction of an SS colonel obsessed with proving to his superiors, despite obfuscations, that Normandy will be the landing place.  Bleibtreu's characterization is amazingly complex for a Nazi...obsessive, emotionally vulnerable, altogether human if also monstrous.  The film's main flaw is a series of unlikely plot developments which mar the credibility of the narrative.  But the action sequences are  well directed, and the film looks great, with an amazing attention to realistic details of the period.   Too bad the plot is so unbelievable.  ** 1/2

5 SENSES (d. Jeremy Podeswa)
Complex film which I recall admiring; but seen too long ago to rate.

FUGITIVE PIECES  (d. Jeremy Podeswa)
The opening film turned out to be a powerful, emotionally resonant film about the effects of the Holocaust on the survivors and the children of survivors (I've known a few of the latter, and this film rang quite true).  It had a complex script which followed four separate time lines, a device which works better in novels (this was an adaptation from a novel, of course); but here at least the editing was skillful enough so that the separate time lines were never confusing.   I will admit to being moved; but I also felt manipulated to an extent...a few too many obvious symbols and clumsy foreshadowing.  It was beautifully acted and photographed, however.  Stephen Dillane has the most soulful eyes in cinema; and this film made quite effective use of that inherent advantage.   A film of obvious "quality"; but for all its good features it just missed the mark for me.  ***

GAMES OF LOVE & CHANCE (L'Ésquive)  (d. Abdellatalfi Kechiche)
Lower class, multi-racial teenagers in the Parisian projects...but this isn't about gang violence or drugs.  It's really a sort of Romeo & Juliet kind of romantic film, with the Romeo being a tongue-tied Arab boy who falls for a live wire girl and tries to woo her by acting opposite her in the school play of Marivaux's "Games of Love & Chance".  I was sort of turned off at the beginning of the film by the frenetic pace, shaky hand-held camera and lack of immediate character differentiation.  But as the film progressed I became more and more involved with the characters, and my initial reaction to walk out gradually changed to grudging admiration for the ensemble acting and innovative direction.  ** 3/4

GARAGE (d. Lenny Abrahamson)
This is one of those quiet slice-of-life Irish films.  Fortunately it had subtitles, since a lot of the dialog was in a difficult to understand brogue.  It's the story of a gentle, possibly mildly retarded 30-something gas station attendant in a rural town, and his innocent beer swigging  relationship with his new 15 year old assistant/trainee.  It's a nice role for Pat Shortt, an actor I've never seen before who manages to project a tragic naivety while still involving the audience's sympathy.  ***

A GIRL CUT IN TWO (La fille coupée en deux) (d. Claude Chabrol)
Nobody does upper-crust decadence quite as stylishly as the prolific ex-new wave master, Claude Chabrol.  Here he tells the story of the rivalry for the affections of a smart, alluring, young tv weathergirl (convincingly played by adorable Ludivine Sagnier) of two men:  one a successful 50-ish author, debonair and very married (played with old-world charm by François Berléand);  the other, an unstable, spoiled, filthy rich playboy (another fascinating, transformative characterization by Benoît Magimel).  The film gets its Lyonaise literati milieu absolutely flawlessly; but I'm not sure it is totally psychologically convincing...certainly the enigmatic ending is exasperating.  But I have to say I greatly enjoyed this film, despite its little flaws.  ***

HEAD-ON (d. Fatih Akin)
 Off center love story about troubled German Turkish couple.  Good film, but not as good as rep.  *** 1/4

HEARTBEAT DETECTOR (La question humaine)  (d. Nicolas Klotz)
Mathieu Amalric is fine in this dense, difficult film.  He plays a human resources psychologist of a German company based in Paris who is charged with the task of evaluating the CEO in what appears to be a fight for company dominance.  Turns out it's a complex matter of Nazi participation in the Holocaust.  The film is so dark and slow, that I had trouble staying awake.  But others found it moving for its new take on the testimony of the Shoah. ** 1/4

THE HOME SONG STORIES (d. Tony Ayres; Australia)
Ayres made one of my all-time favorite gay films in 2002, Walking on Water.  Here he is reaching into his own life to tell the story of his mother, a Chinese bar singer brought to Australia with her two young children by a kindly Anglo sailer who married her and then was largely absent at sea.  It's written from the somewhat naive point of view of the 10 year old child who grew up to be the author/filmmaker.  The acting is superb...Joan Chen has rarely been as magnificent as here, as the self-involved Rose (do I detect a little Gypsy association in the author's recollection of his mother?).   The feeling of time and place is perfect.   And the boy who plays the 10 year old Tom (Joel Lok) is a real find.  *** 1/4

ISLAND ETUDE (d. Huai-en Chen; Taiwan)
Taiwan's original submission was refused entry into this competition also; and in this case the replacement just wasn't nearly as good as the original (Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, one of the best films of the year.)  The current film is a bucolic travelogue following a deaf boy bicycling around Taiwan; and recounts his encounters with various types along the way.  The film is pretty to look at; but I couldn't get engaged since there didn't seem to be a story here at all.   W/O

IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (d. Srdan Vuletic; Bosnia/Herzogovina)
Sarajevo is a very photogenic city; and this film takes full advantage of that, being the contemporary story of a petty thief taxi driver who tries to change his life by going straight to win back his wife and baby boy.  In some ways this is the male equivalent to last year's excellent Bosnian film Grbavica, also a story of lost souls and their children in a post-war world.  It's a solid, well acted film. ***

JAR CITY (Mýrin) (d. Baltasar Kormákur) 
Kormakur has delivered a fascinating policier about a brutal murder whose rationale and solution are based on the political hot potato of genetic screening.  It's too easy to spoil the plot by divulging more.  Timely, extremely well done, with a unique portrayal of the Icelandic landscape, this film should hopefully find an appreciative audience.  *** 1/4

KATYN (d. Andrzej Wajda; Poland)
Wajda is, and has been for decades, an important master filmmaker; and this film proves that his skills are still vibrant.  It's the epic story of an early WWII massacre of captive Polish officers by the Soviets, who tried to change the perception of history after the war by promulgating a big lie that it was the Germans who committed this atrocity.  Much of this history came as a revelation to me; and occasionally I had trouble understanding the ins-and-outs of post-war Polish politics.  But that didn't stop me from respecting the sheer importance of this film and the tremendous artfulness of Wadja's achievement.  *** 1/2

LA FRANCE (d. Serge Bozon)
Sylvie Testud makes an attractive young boy in disguise in this strange quasi-musical WWI film about a lost platoon of soldiers wandering the bleak countryside of 1917 Europe.   Amidst the general gloom of the film, the soldiers occasionally break into anachronistic musical numbers; and every time the audience tittered, breaking the mood.  Of all the recent spate of French musical films, this is the oddest.  ** 1/2

THE LAST MISTRESS (Une vieille maîtress) (d. Catherine Breillat)
Breillat is working in historic costume romantic drama territory, a very similar film to Rivette's previously seen Duchess of Languais, only to my sensibility an infinitely better effort both formally and in terms of story impact.  It's the story of a young man's ten year affair with a tempestuous Spanish courtisan told on the eve of his marriage to a respectable heiress.   Asia Argento is fine as the Spanish woman; but the real find here is the young man, played by Fu'ad Aït  Aattou, a non-actor whom Breillat told the audience pre-film that she discovered Lana Turner style in a restaurant and knew immediately that he was her Ryno.  He's perfect for the role, with a face straight out of paintings from the period.  Plus he can act, selling the role completely to my eye.  Breillat turns out to have a real feeling for the period drama; her settings and costumes, even the acting styles, fit the period convincingly.  I was impressed.  *** 1/2

LATE BLOOMERS (d. Bettina Oberli; Switzerland)
An elderly, recently widowed lady and her friends living in a remote, mountainous Swiss village revolt against the ultra-conservative patriarchy which is their present-day society.  This film is guaranteed to tickle the funny bone of the oldsters in the Academy committee; but I thought it was too manipulative and predictable to warrant a good review.  ** 1/4

A MAN'S JOB (d. Aleksi Salmenperä; Finland)
For some reason most of the films so far have reminded me of past films.  In this case Cantet's Time Out, also about a working class man who loses his job and invents a subterfuge to avoid confronting his dysfunctional family with the true situation.  Here, the husband becomes a male prostitute for older women...and, predictably, this doesn't offer an easy life.  Tommi Korpela is an interesting actor, 40ish, craggy face and great body.  At first he seems an unlikely sex object, but his descent into debasement rings true.  Interesting character study.   ***

MISTER FOE (d. David Mackenzie)
Nicely made romantic comedy and coming-of-age film with a fine lead (finally!) performance by Jamie Bell.  *** 1/2

MONGOL  (d. Sergei Bodrov)
Bodrov has delivered, with his usual assured style, a pretty fair epic of the 12th century ascension to power of Ghengis Khan.  Nothing here stands out as unique (I actually enjoyed more last year's inferior, but similar Kazakhstan epic, Nomad.)  Even the battle scenes, done mostly with thousands of real extras, had an aura of familiarity.  Most of the ones in this film seemed to have the same close-ups of blood spattering swordplay interspersed with different establishing shots of the forces and terrain.   Beautifully shot, but nothing distinctive enough to break this film out of its genre.  ** 3/4

ON THE WINGS OF DREAMS (d. Golem Rabbany Biplop; Bangladesh)
This film about the troubles which befall a simple, rural family when they stumble across some foreign currency, is a like an old fashioned parable or a story by O. Henry.  The acting was uneven; sometimes I couldn't help but be amused by an obvious piece of business, a leer or stare right out of an old fashioned melodrama.  But by and large the characters were realistic, and the story, if predictable, actually held together.  **

ONE HUNDRED NAILS (Centochiodi) (d. Ermanno Olmi)
Unfortunately, Olmi's story of a professor who commits an act of artistic terrorism and then escapes into an idyllic, if endangered, Po River community failed to involve me.  Too bad, because Olmi is definitely a master of the medium; but here his canvas is too diffuse.  ** 1/4

THE POPE'S TOILET (d. Enrique Fernández; Uruguay)
In 1988 the traveling Pope, John-Paul II, spoke in a small, economically depressed Uruguayan village.  The villagers, some of them smugglers of comestibles from across the nearby Brazilian border, decide to take advantage of the Pope's visit by gearing up to serve the throngs of visitors, an admirably Capitalistic endeavor.  One family, the center of the film, decides to construct a luxury outhouse to charge visitors for the facility.   This is an earthy film which plays like a humanistic documentary.  Diverting, but as a film not much.  ** 1/2

POSTCARDS FROM LENINGRAD (d. Mariana Rondón; Venezuela)
This is an impressionistic, arty film about two kids, cousins and children of communist guerrillas in the Venezuelan jungle in the 1960's.  It's hard to follow, with a confusing timeline and tricky animated effects which look good but don't really aid the narrative.  The film also has a definite leftist drum to beat.  There's a glimmer of an adventuresome director here...but the film turned me off.  **

ROMEO AND JULIET (d. Franco Zeffirelli)
Traditional version of the Shakespeare play with two attractive authentically young actors in the lead roles.  Seen too long ago to rate.

A SECRET (d. Claude Miller)
For those suffering from cinematic Holocaust fatigue, I present this film:  a multifaceted romantic melodrama set in World War II and post-war France which takes a different slant on events.   The film has a complex structure, existing simultaneously on at least 3 time lines covering fifty years from the mid 1930s to the 1980s, utilizing black & white and various degrees of saturated color photography to help separate the periods.   It's the story of an extended Jewish family and how they cope (or don't cope in some cases) with the Nazification of France; and how their lives are affected for decades by personal issues even more pressing to the family members than the horrors of the outside world.   The cast is superb, the direction immaculate.  Maybe because of this film's focus on familiar family issues, I found myself more profoundly moved and personally connected to this story than from any previous Holocaust film.  Quite an achievement.  *** 1/2

THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN (La graine et les moulets) (d. Abdellatif Kechiche)
Kechiche has made an intimate family epic set in the Mediterranean port city of Sète, France, about an extended family of francophied North Africans led by a sixtyish pater familias who, having been laid off from his 35 year port maintenance job, embarks on a project of turning a rustbucket ship into a floating couscous restaurant.   The film is over-long, with a large cast, mostly family and friends, which is initially hard to keep straight.  But after a while the accumulation of detail about this dysfunctional family begins to make sense; and more important, I started to care about the characters...really care.  In fact, by the end I was so emotionally invested that the up-in-the-air ending left me feeling literally bereft.  But all this adds up to a successful, even unforgettable, film.  *** 1/4

SEXY BEAST (d. Jonathan Glazer)
A film from 2000 which was so strong that I remember vividly the entire plot and several key scenes.  Seen too long ago to rate.

TOWELHEAD (d. Alan Ball)   [Had the title NOTHING IS PRIVATE in Toronto]
Wow!  This film is destined to be quite controversial.  It's the story of a sexualized 13-year old girl and how she's abused by almost all the older men in her 1990's Houston suburban milieu.  I have to admit to feeling creeped out by a lot of what happens in this film; but I think that was Ball's objective:  to present a satire with the sting of shock.  The acting was flawless.  Summer Bishil is amazingly convincing as the young girl (she's 19 in real life, so despite appearances this isn't actually kiddie porn).  Also notable:  Peter Macdissi, who was so interesting as the bisexual teacher in Ball's Six Feet Under, playing the girl's prissy, Lebanese father; and the third variegated performance of this festival by the always reliable Aaron Eckhart.  I haven't a clue whether or not this film is commercially viable; but it is certainly the success d'scandale of this festival among those I talked to who saw the film.    ***

THE UNKNOWN WOMAN (d. Giuseppe Tornatore; Italy)
Not your typical emotionally excessive Tornatore film, rather a fairly taut thriller which seemed more Spanish than Italian in its style (whatever that means, just a personal impression).  It's the story of a former Ukranian sex slave who arrives in a small Italian city in order to find her lost child and will stop at nothing in her determination.  Nicely acted, especially by the beautiful Kseniya Rappoport, both as a blond in the quick-cut flashbacks and as a worldly brunette in present day.   I was initially bothered by a heavy handed, if expressive score by Ennio Morricone; but ultimately it worked to provide gravitas.   I had some problems with the internal logic of the narrative; but on reflection I think it all held together remarkably well.   *** 1/4

XXY (d. Lucia Puenzo)
This Argentine film tackles the tough subject of a teenage hermaphrodite, brought up as a girl, whose parents rejected early sexual assignment surgery in favor of waiting to let their (daughter?  son?  offspring?) choose.  The film focuses on the girl (a sensitive, nuanced performance by Inés Efron) and her relationship with a visiting teenage boy with sex issues of his own (Martin Piroyansky).  The script somehow misses sensationalism and manages to express some novel emotional truths.  ***

YOUNG ADAM (d. David Mackenzie)
Dark Scottish film, slow and sexy, visually dull, but unexpectedly poignant. Ewen McGregor has never been more attractive. ***

YOU, THE LIVING (d. Roy Andersson; Sweden)
Andersson makes visually dazzling, thematically puzzling films made up of vignettes drenched in irony about various grotesque characters inhabiting his strange, fluorescent, imaginary world.  I don't pretend to understand his symbolism (for instance what's with all the Nazi references?); and to tell the truth, despite my awe at his signature visual imagination and the way he expands the space of the frame by constructing elaborate, painterly backgrounds, his films grate on me. ** 3/4

Return to Ken's 2008 SIFF Journal